Assembly device

ABSTRACT

An assembly device for assembling the components of a wound clip applicator consisting of a housing with a closed base and upper, open end into which has to be loaded a spring and a stack of clips, and forceps arms for locking the clips in place, e.g., as in U.S. Pat. No. 3,775,826. The device consists of a support for the housing, a guideway for receiving the components to be loaded, and a plunger which can travel along the guideway and press the components into the housing. Manual or automatic operation is envisaged.

United States Patent [1 1 Weston 1 1 Jan. 7,1975

[ ASSEMBLY DEVICE [75] inventor: David Frederick Weston, Runcorn,

England [73] Assignee: Imperial Chemical Industries Limited, London, England 22 Filed: Aug. 27, 1913 211 Appl.No.:392,004

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Oct. 26, 1972 Great Britain; 49463/72 [52] US. Cl 29/211 R [51] Int. Cl. B23g 7/10 [58] Field of Search 29/211 R, 200 R, 212 D, 29/212 R, 211 D, 200 P [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,775,825 12/1973 Wood et al. 29/212 D Primary ExaminerThomas H. Eager Almrney, Agent, or FirmCushman, Darby & Cushman 57 ABSTRACT An assembly device for assembling the components of a wound clip applicator consisting of a housing with a closed base and upper, open end into which has to be loaded a spring and a stack of clips, and forceps arms for locking the clips in place, e.g., as in US. Pat. No. 3,775,826. The device consists of a support for the housing, a guideway for receiving the components to be loaded, and a plunger which can travel along the guideway and press the components into the housing. Manual or automatic operation is envisaged.

4 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures Patented Jan. 7, 1975 2 Shoots-Sheet 1 Patentd Jan. 7, 1975 2 Shun-Sheet 2 IV/A J 1 ASSEMBLY DEVICE This invention relates to an assembly device, and in particular it relates to a device for assembling the components of a wound clip applicator of the type described in German Offenlegungsschrift 2,245,405.

A wound clip applicator for use in surgical practice consists essentially of a rectangular magazine provided with forceps arms located at the sides of the magazine which may be squeezed together to bend a clip into the desired position across a wound. A supply of clips is kept in the magazine and the clips are released singly from the open end of the magazine into the jaws of the forceps arms. In the type of wound clip applicator re ferred to above, the magazine or housing for the clips and the forceps arms and jaws constitute an integral structure in a single piece of thermoplastic material, and in order to prepare such an applicator for use, biassing means for urging the clips towards the open end of the housing, usually in the form of a helical spring and a spring seat, together with a stack of clips must be inserted into the housing and then retained there by looking the forceps arms. This operation can, of course be performed manually, but when so performed, it is slow and requires considerable dexterity. The present invention provides and an assembly device which enables the wound clip applicator as described to be assembled without requiring manual dexterity.

According to the invention there is provided sembly' device for assembling the components of a wound clip applicator of the type consisting of a housing for clips and forceps arms provided with locking.

means for retaining the clips in the housin-g,the housing being closed at its base and requiring to be loaded through its upper, open end with biassing means and a stack of clips, comprising a support for receiving the housing of the applicator, a guideway located for directing the biassing means and the stack of clips, when placed therein, towards the open end of the housing under gravity, and a plunger adapted to be moved along the guideway for pressing the stack of clips and biassing means into the housing and retaining them there while the forceps arms are locked.

ln a preferred embodiment of the invention the support and guideway are arranged on an inclined plane and the plunger is in the form of a plate which is adapted to slide along the guideway under the action of a lever mounted on a rotatable shaft and actuated manually by a handle located at one side of the guideway.

Wound clips are often supplied as a stack retained on a wire loop, and as a further refinement, the plunger may be provided with a hook so that after the biassing means and clips have been locked in the housing, return of the plunger causes the hook to engage the wire loop and withdraw it from the clips.

In order that the invention may be more clearly understood, one preferred embodiment of the assembly device will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings of which:

FIG. I is a plan view of the assembly device with an applicator case shown in phantom outline,

and FIG. ll is a vertical section along the line A--A of FIG. I.

The assembly device of the-invention as illustrated comprises a support for the housing of an applicator in the form of a base plate 1 held at an angle of 30-45 to the horizontal by a frame 2 and provided with a leaf an asspring 3 at the lower end of the base plate 1 and located at to the base plate 1. The upper surface ofthe base plate 1 is provided at its upper end with a semi-circular shaped raised portion 4, and the dimensions of this raised portion 4 and the support as a whole are such as to just accommodate and hold the housing 5 of a clip applicator (shown in phantom outline) between the leaf spring 3 and the raised portion 4. The frame 2 also supports a metal guideway inclined at the same angle to the horizontal as the base plate 1 and located so that its lower end is in line with the mouth of an applicator, when present. The guideway consistsof two U-shaped channels 6 arranged with the open parts facing each other and spaced apart by a distance slightly less than the width ofthe mouth of the applicator housing to be accommodated on the base plate 1. The lower edges of each channel 6 are provided with extensions 7 which are directed towards the centre of the guideway, but do not meet and extend lengthwise only along approximately two-thirds of the channels 6 from their lower ends. The gap 8 between the extensions 7 is small enough to retain a helical spring which is to be inserted into the applicator housing. Also at the lower end of the channels 6 is provided a cover 9 which is conveniently hinged to fit over the external surfaces, of the channels 6. This cover 9 can be provided with a ridge 21 and slots 10 to accommodate and align a spring seat which is to be inserted into the applicator housing. Arranged to slide between thechannels 6 and along the guideway formed by the channels 6 and their extensions 7 and cover 9 is a plunger in the form of'a plate ll'extending between the channels 6 and bearing. a flat spring 12 provided with a downward facing hook l3 directed along the guideway. The plate I1 is also provided with a slot l4 through which projects a lever 15 itself secured to a rotatable shaft 16 located below the plane of the guideway. The shaft is provided with an actuating handle 17 and is preferably also provided with a re turn spring (not shown) to bias the lever 15 into the vertical position. The extent of angular movement of the lever 15 is limited by a stop 19 extending between the sides of the frame 2' and adjustable in a pair of slots 20 located vertically below the cover 9.

In operation when it is desired to use the assembly device to insert biassing means, in the form of a helical spring and a spring seat, and a stack of clips into the housing of a clip applicator through its upper open end,

the assembly device is set with the actuating handle 17 vertical and consequently the plunger in the form of plate 11 together with its spring 12 at the upper end of the guideway. The clip applicator is placed on the base plate 1 so that the housing 5 is secured between the leaf spring 3 and the semi-circular raised portion 4. The helical spring is placed in the guideway on the extension 7, above and along the gap 8, when it slides down into the housing 5. The spring seat is similarly placed in the guideway, and advantage may be taken of the ridge 21 and slots 10 to assist in aligning the seat across the guideway. The seat then slides down the guideway to rest on the upper end of the helical spring; at this stage, above the housing 5. A stack of wound clips together with its retaining rack is then placed on the extension 7 and allowed to slide down the guideway and substantially below the cover 9. The handle 17 is then pulled downwards to rotate the shaft 16 anticlockwise (FIG. ll) and via the lever 15 cause the plunger to move along the guideway until the hook 13 on spring 12 rides over the retaining rack and the plate 11 makes firm contact with the rack. Further rotation of the handle 17 and shaft 16 causes the plate 11 to press the stack of clips, spring seat and helical spring into the housing in which they are secured by locking the forceps arms 18 across the upper clip. The movement of the plunger in the guideway is restricted by the stop 19, and after locking of the forceps arms, the handle 17 is allowed to return to the vertical position on its return spring. In this latter movement, the hook 13 engages the rack holding the stack of clips and withdraws it from the clips and the housing. When the rack has been withdrawn beyond the extensions 7 it falls from the hook l3 through the interior of the frame 2 and through an aperture in the base to a suitable receptacle. The assembled clip applicator is then removed from the base plate 1 by pressure on the leaf spring 3, and the whole operation repeated.

The embodiment illustrated can readily be adapted for automatic operation by arranging for the components, i.e., housing, spring, spring seat and rack of clips, to be fed automatically on to the assembly tool and for the action of the plunger to push the loaded applicator through a constriction to lock the forceps arms. Discharge of the assembled applicator and return of the plunger can then be arranged to release a further supply of components to repeat the cycle.

What we claim is:

1. An assembly device for assembling the components of a wound clip applicator of the type consisting of a housing for clips and forceps arms provided with locking means for retaining the clips in the housing, the said housing being closed at its base and requiring to be loaded through its upper open end with biassing means and a stack of clips, comprising,

a. a support for receiving the housing of an applicator,

b. a guideway located relative to said support for directing the biassing means and the stack of clips, when'placed therein, towards the open end of the housing under gravity, and

c. a plunger. slidable along said guideway for pressing a stack of clips and biassing means into said housing and retaining them in said housing while the forceps arms of said applicator are locked.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the support and guideway are located on a plane inclined to the horizontal.

3. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the guideway is formed from two U-shaped channels with the open parts facing each other and the plunger is a plate slidable between said U-shaped channels and propelled by a lever mounted on a rotatable shaft.

4. A device as claimed in claim 3 wherein the plate bears a spring loaded hook directed along said guideway for engaging with a wire loop retaining said stack of clips and for withdrawing said wire loop from said stack of clips when said stack of clips has been locked in said housing. 

1. An assembly device for assembling the components of a wound clip applicator of the type consisting of a housing for clips and forceps arms provided with locking means for retaining the clips in the housing, the said housing being closed at its base and requiring to be loaded through its upper open end with biassing means and a stack of clips, comprising, a. a support for receiving the housing of an applicator, b. a guideway located relative to said support for directing the biassing means and the stack of clips, when placed therein, towards the open end of the housing under gravity, and c. a plunger, slidable along said guideway for pressing a stack of clips and biassing means into said housing and retaining them in said housing while the forceps arms of said applicator are locked.
 2. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the support and guideway are located on a plane inclined to the horizontal.
 3. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the guideway is formed from two U-shaped channels with the open parts facing each other and the plunger is a plate slidable between said U-shaped channels and propelled by a lever mounted on a rotatable shaft.
 4. A device as claimed in claim 3 wherein the plate bears a spring loaded hook directed along said guideway for engaging with a wire loop retaining said stack of clips and for withdrawing said wire loop from said stack of clips when said stack of clips has been locked in said housing. 